Thursday, January 06, 2011

Indecision at West Ham

After last night's performance I felt pretty sure that Avram Grant would be replaced before Saturday's FA Cup game against Barnsley. However according to Sky Sports indecision reigns at West Ham.

Sky claim that they have been told by a 'senior figure' at the club that the owners are undecided whether to replace Grant or not. Sky do say that there are no plans to hold an emergency board meeting today so that suggests that Grant's position is safe, at least until the next game.

Harry Harris on ESPN says that the West Ham board are now considering who will be Grant's replacement. He claims that Sam Allardyce and Chris Hughton are the favourites but because of cup games West Ham have a week to make the decision before the next Premier League game.

8 Comments:

one more game, one more game,one more gameoh shit to late we have been relegated!!!!!!!!!!come on gold/sullivan grow some balls before it is to late!!!!!!Save our club thats what you promised, get someone in who will kick some arses and bang heads together now!!!I told you all we should have got Pardew back his team had passion last night!Bob the Hammer

The current problems at the club run deeper than whoever is the manager. The club has been mismanaged by different owners over at least a decade. Young players have been sold, transfer fees wasted, and sky high wages have been paid to mercenaries and journeymen.

On top of this the club's fans have moved from East London to Essex and Kent (me included) and a lot of them won't or can't get to games. Their kids will grow up with a weak or no connection to the club. That's not a dig a the fans, but I think this is connected to the quieter atmosphere at games. The passion has been ebbing away from the stands as well as the pitch.

As a result I'm not totally convinced that Grant should go. Before yesterday things seemed to be improving over the last few games (Blackburn, Fulham, Everton, Wolves). If Grant goes I'd like to see Chris Hughton take over. I think he did an excellent job steadying the ship at Newcastle and they should have given him a chance to prove himself at the top level. Their loss should be our gain.

Most of all what I want to see is a renewal of the club's identity and traditions. I strongly believe that this is more important than results, and the results will follow from the renewal of the club off the pitch. We need owners with a clear idea of what the club is supposed to be. I would then like to see this reflected in the choice of manager and the transfer policy. The fans have a role to play here. We need to define 'The West Ham Way' for ourselves and make our voices heard, on-line, on the streets, and on the stands.

And I agree about fans moving out of the area; I live in France so I only get TV matches. And there's no atmosphere, so with so much televised football it's not surprising that younger fans are not so 'fanatical'.

Chris Hughton at West Ham would be brilliant. Take it from a Toon supporter. I love West Ham. They are my favorite London team. The West Ham supporters in New York City are great blokes. They get along with the Toon Army. Hughton would bring us sides closer together.